The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1887-02-23
MYSTERIOUS MOuNTAINEEES.
An Interesting Theory rs to the Origin o.
the NoonsliiEerS.


the NoonsIliEers.
y. E. Allison, in soa;he;r B:vouac for February.}
Rude in speech, figure and habit;
barely lettered, though rarely entirely
rnIettered; cunning, bold, determined
and reckless of life, he is apart from the
men OF any Of the people who dwell on
the plains on either side CT nis mountain
range, and has code OF manners, cas-
toms and morals that IS unknown to the
outer world. The origin OF TIE noun
taineers that inhabit the ranges from
Virginia to Arkansas Is a subject tnat
might tempt the curiosity Of a serious
historian. The vestiges os the early
population, and of some Of the singular
episode inroads that accompanied the
steady flow Of English colonization, are
still plainly perceptib!e. IRON -lc semi
ducal plantations OF the King favorltes
in Virginia and the Carolln;ss many OF
those unfortunate or criminal wretcnes
vino were Transported from the mother
country to be panal slaves III the heAds
Of heartless, and mostly absentee, mas
ters, escaped into the refuge OF the
mountains, and, animated by despair
ing hope Of freedom, sought the most
inaccessible hiding places. 10 the
escaped convict, trembling under the re-
membrance Of masters lash, and Will
ing to dare any native danger to escape
the slavery he had fed, the approach OF
another refugee was as full Of terror as
Of comfort. The runaway fclon could
trust nobody; or, perhaps, he mad
brand upon his forehead to hide from
curious eyes. and wherever he maoe his
home it was kept remote from nelghDor-
ship and made rs uninviting as possible
to adventurous or suspicious eyes. Ilere
is little doubt that among the first set
tiers of the mountains were these British
convicts sold into slavery 10 the Ame1-
can plantations, and condemned to LIE
of laborious servitude, which they only
escaped by such hardships as could
tempt no free man. The free pioneer
and the woodsman pushed on across the
mountains OF through the passes and
cleared for himself an empire and garden
in fertile Kentucky and Middle Tennes-
see, or sought the softer air and cotton
lands Of the Southern States. The
escaped convict was afraid TO venture IN
either direction, lest he should rush into
the hands of former master or over
seer, who would identify and re-enslave
him. So, with that last instinct for per
sonal freedom that has always possessed
the Caucasian race il every land, he
clung TO the mountains Of his refuge,
secure in his solitude and getting his
peace in the impregnability OF his re-
treat. 1t was perhaps an Inherited in
stinct, therefore, that made the noun
taineers hate negro slavery as bitterly as
the most determined Abclitiouists Of tue
North, and which led them by force OF
fate to join the Union armies when the
civil war came on. The mountain re-
giors not only furnished the Northern
armies thousands OF soldiers, but also
maintained warm sympathy tor the
cause III the rear and front Of the Union
lines, and it IS not singular, perhaps,
that they have continued IL sympathy
with the Republican party as instructive
ly as the emancipated negro.